Archive
As wood pellet exports to Japan surge, BC’s primary forests feel the strain
Apr 24, 2024
In the land of the rising sun, the light of a setting sun glints so brightly on the shiny metal piping of Renova’s Ishinomaki Hibarino power plant that you have to shield your eyes. Located near the city of Sendai, north of Tokyo, the new thermal electricity plant is one of several in Japan that… View Article
Beyond Recovery: A paradox in COVID-19 pandemic recovery | Panel discussion
Apr 23, 2024
This year, the CCPA–BC Office, in collaboration with SFU Faculty of Health Science researchers and UNITE HERE Local 40, published ‘A paradox in COVID-19 pandemic recovery: Increased precarity of women hotel workers in British Columbia’. A panel discussion held on April 10 featured the report’s authors and hotel industry workers. They explored the report’s findings,… View Article
Why BC needs sectoral bargaining now
Apr 4, 2024
Too many BC workers lack meaningful access to the benefits of collective bargaining and the failure of our labour laws to keep up with the evolving nature of work is a key culprit…. View Article
Time for a new public transit investment plan
Mar 28, 2024
Imagine being able to get from almost anywhere in BC to anywhere else on public transit, as one might in Europe or Asia. Or visitors landing at Vancouver airport and being able to get seamlessly around the province without the need to rent a car. Whether it’s dealing with bumper-to-bumper congestion in Metro Vancouver or… View Article
A return to cuts would be disastrous for BC and its economy
Mar 27, 2024
Under-investment in public services and infrastructure not only hurts BC families, it also hurts our economy. With the BC government projecting deficits in the latest provincial budget, the corporate lobby is trying to raise alarm bells about spending. But a return to the cuts of the past would be disastrous for BC. The provincial BC… View Article
Budget fails to fund enough supports for newcomers to BC
Mar 26, 2024
New immigrants, temporary foreign workers and international students are bearing the brunt of the blame for the housing crisis and strain on public services where the provincial budget is failing to keep up with demand…. View Article
Evaluating BC Budget 2024’s commitments to racial equity
Mar 21, 2024
Poverty reduction is a crucial element to advancing racial equity in BC, but the province’s new targets for reducing overall poverty are insufficiently ambitious and lack the urgency needed to effect meaningful change…. View Article
Leaked data reveals new threat to BC’s old growth forests
Mar 7, 2024
BREAKING: officials in the Ministry of Forests have been working on a map that radically departs from the recommendations of a panel appointed by the provincial government to advise it on how to protect British Columbia’s imperiled old growth forests…. View Article
BC Budget: Big Challenges—Small Steps
Feb 22, 2024
The provincial budget stands up to austerity pressures but falls short on meeting urgent challenges facing the people of BC…. View Article
Vancouver’s go-slow multiplex policy could blow a hole in provincial housing projections
Feb 21, 2024
Vancouver’s go-slow multiplex policy could blow a hole in provincial housing projections. If the city doesn’t fix the policy, it will reduce the estimated benefits from BC’s housing legislation by 30,000+ homes…. View Article
Connecting BC: A 10-year vision for public transit throughout BC
Feb 16, 2024
Let’s not keep BC riders waiting. It’s time to invest in the transit British Columbians deserve…. View Article
Getting to Net-Zero in Canada: Summary
Feb 8, 2024
Scale of the problem, government projections and daunting challenges The urgency of mitigating climate change through significant emission reductions is globally recognized—most recently with the call to transition away from fossil fuels at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28). Canada has long accepted this challenge: its latest pledge… View Article
New labour legislation to continue gig worker precarity
Feb 1, 2024
Gig work is widely recognized as having all of the characteristics of precarious employment: typically temporary, part-time or casual, low paid, lacking in predictable work hours and job security without health and welfare benefits and protections. Research into precarious gig work in BC has revealed that app-based ride-hail and food delivery gig workers are predominantly… View Article
Knives out for Clean BC
Jan 25, 2024
It’s taken sixteen years of incremental policy change in BC but you might have noticed that climate policies are starting to take hold. Electric vehicles are widespread, new building standards with much higher energy efficiency are being introduced and heat pump sales have surged as people replace home heating equipment. Nonetheless, the long knives are… View Article
A paradox in COVID-19 pandemic recovery: Increased precarity of women hotel workers in British Columbia
Jan 24, 2024
REPORT: While BC’s accommodations and food services sector (AFS) received over a billion dollars in government COVID-19 subsidies, women workers—predominantly racialized and immigrants—either lost their employment or had hours and income significantly reduced…. View Article
Our Hopes and Dreams for Public Education
Jan 11, 2024
We know there are significant pressures facing our valued public education system—overcrowding, chronic underfunding, a growing teacher shortage and inadequate support for students with diverse learning needs to name just a few. These cracks in our school system command our immediate attention and require our concerted advocacy. When we’re focused on the problems and pressing… View Article
Beyond “Happy Holidays!”: it’s time to support Canada’s increasing religious diversity
Dec 22, 2023
Canada’s religious demographics have changed in the last 20 years. This is not being reflected in all facets of the structural fabric of society, particularly in the context of work and holidays…. View Article
Government must do more than shuffle chairs to solve BC’s water woes
Dec 20, 2023
British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests was always a poor choice to manage the province’s water resources—and it showed. So it was fitting in October that the government decided after years of being urged to do so to transfer that power to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. But shunting public servants between ministries… View Article
Time for change: A farewell message from CCPA-BC Director Shannon Daub
Dec 15, 2023
Dear friends, It is with mixed feelings that I share my decision with you to move on from the CCPA. Mixed because I am ready for a change in my career, but that doesn’t spare me the heartache of saying goodbye to an organization I’ve had the honour of helping to build over the past… View Article
Provincial zoning reform essential to reduce housing exclusion and displacement
Dec 14, 2023
Sky-high rents, ultra-low vacancy rates and fierce competition for scarce homes have become the grim but familiar picture of housing in BC, driving unaffordability, exclusion and displacement. The BC government has made major housing policy announcements in recent weeks and a key focus has been tackling chronic municipal roadblocks to new housing. For decades, exclusionary… View Article